Microsoft Posts XAML Formats

The documentation is aimed at helping developers implement XAML in their own formats.

As part of its overall effort to promote greater interoperability, Microsoft
is posting additional documentation of the Extensible Application Markup
Language formats for advanced user experiences, enabling third parties to
access and implement the XAML formats in their own client, server and tool
products.
The documentation is publicly available for free here.

It will help developers building non-Microsoft clients and servers to read
and write XAML to process advanced user experiences, with animation, rich 2-D
and 3-D graphics, and video, Microsoft officials said. Non-Microsoft servers
can more easily generate XAML files to be handled, for example, by applications
running on Windows client machines. In addition, non-Microsoft clients can
be written more easily to interpret XAML files. This action will help ISVs
create design tools and file format converters to read and write XAML.

Microsoft is making this documentation available under the Microsoft Open
Specification Promise, which will allow developers of all types to access and
implement the XAML formats in their own client, server or tool products without
having to take a license or pay a fee to Microsoft.

Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.